


Anything is a Pillow if You Try Hard Enough

by RiseiTekiSensei



Series: It's A Long Story [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Nightmares, Poor Toriel, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Prompt - Sleep, Sans is very strange, and also might be a cat, part of my It's A Long Story Series, pre-soriel, sorielweek, sorielweek 2017, year 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:39:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiseiTekiSensei/pseuds/RiseiTekiSensei
Summary: Sans has some very strange sleeping habits, Toriel starts to understand why.





	Anything is a Pillow if You Try Hard Enough

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 2 of #SorielWeek2017 on tumblr. The prompt was Sleep. You can find more information and other submissions at sorielweek.tumblr.com.

Toriel managed to close the door with a bit of bump from her hip. Her hands were full of grocery bags and she felt very pleased with herself.

 

Not only had she managed to do her shopping in a reasonable amount of time, she had also bought all of the makings for brownies with a butterscotch drizzle. It was a very good day and she felt like celebrating.

The previous owner had yet to contact her realtor but, the elderly man was certain the owner would accept her bid for the quaint two-story house with the beautifully remodeled kitchen. At last she and Frisk would finally have a place to call their own, it was wonderful. Not that she did not enjoy living with Sans and Papyrus, for she found their company most splendid but… She wanted to have a home of her own.

A place, stable and comfy and consistent, for Frisk to grow up in. A home that would become the backdrop for the memories of their young life. One that would be the gathering place for holidays and celebrations, one in which all of her child’s ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ would always be welcome to visit any time they liked. Her smile grew at the thought of having a **real** Gyftmas this year, with everyone all gathered around an enormous tree covered in colored lights and sparkly baubles.

But she was getting ahead of herself, nothing was official yet. And besides, it was still April. She had plenty of time to create that fantasy for her child... and quite honestly, for herself too. Toriel placed the canvas bags on top of the round table that had hosted so many wonderful meals and conversations shared by the apartment’s four residents.

First things first, though, she had frozen things to put away. Upon retrieving the vanilla nicecream and the frozen waffles both her child and Sans seemed to adore, _for no good reason_ , she turned towards the kitchenette space behind her.

 

And stopped dead.

 

The lights had been on when she had come in, as she had expected; Toriel had merely assumed that Sans was somewhere nearby, very much asleep. And she wasn’t wrong, far from it actually.

Sans **was** asleep.

The problem- or point of confusion, was that he- for some unknown reason, had decided to take his usual mid-afternoon nap atop the fridge.

 

_Goodness… Well, I am glad that Papyrus and I both make a point to keep the refrigerator clean…_

 

Sans had his face pressed against the cool plastic of the fridge with one hand caught underneath him and the other slung down over the freezer door as he lay half on his side and half on his stomach. Both of his legs and, _thankfully_ , slipper-less feet had been pulled up onto the rectangular space rather haphazardly and, more than likely, very uncomfortably. But this did not seem to have deterred the sleeping skeleton-monster in the slightest, for her exceptionally strange friend was truly asleep. His chest made no pretense to mimic breathing, something that had scared her immensely when she had first moved in with the two skeletons a few months ago.

Papyrus had had to explain to her that not only did they pretend to breathe, something she had already figured out for herself, but that they didn’t continue this social normality when they slept. He had been so upset by that fact; apparently, it had always bothered Papyrus that his ‘manners’ seemed to fail him when he slept, despite his best efforts ‘to train himself’ otherwise.

 

 _“THIS IS OF COURSE, LADY TORIEL, WHY I, THE VERY GREAT AND POLITE PAPYRUS, SLEEP SO INFREQUENTLY. NOT ONLY DOES IT WASTE PERFECTLY USEFUL PUZZLE CONSTRUCTION TIME, BUT IT ALSO INSTILLS BAD HABITS. I HAVE TO STAY EVER VIGILANT IN ORDER TO NOT END UP LIKE MY VERY LAZY BROTHER! NYEH HEH HEH!”_

 

The smile that pulled at Toriel’s mouth made her sigh, despite her amusement. She returned the frozen items back to the cold bag, lest her warm paws thaw them faster. She moved back to the fridge and her sleeping roommate only to stop again. She really wasn’t quite sure what to do about Sans.

Normally, she would have just woken Sans up when she found him asleep in an odd place, typically they were not this **odd,** but now it was a tad more complicated.

Now she knew about his insomnia. He had confided in her about his poorer than average sleeping habits and she did not want to disregard his act of trust… but she also had things that needed to be placed into the freezer.

 

Hands on her hips she studied him at length.

 

_Perhaps, I could just lift his arm and place it atop the fridge with the rest of him…_

 

_… No, that will likely wake him. And even if it does not my opening and closing the doors surely would…_

 

Toriel sighed and let herself absorb more details about the situation; like the fact that he looked so very _tired_.

The dark circles under his eyes were something that would easily go unnoticed by most. When he was wake his eye-lights and smile made for a far more interesting study, but now in sleep the dark smudges looked more like the bruises a more solid monster might have. She had made it a point the last several days to catalog the intensity of shadows under his eye-orbits; even though so few days of observations could not give her a very detailed understanding about their meaning, she knew they looked worse. She knew that **he** looked worse...

 

Which only made her even more hesitant about waking him up. She shook her head slightly and pursed her lips as she considered her options. She could wake him up, she could move him, or she could leave him and just try to be as quiet as possible…

 

…

 

Moving him really seemed to be the only option that would give him the best chance to remain asleep, but it was also the most difficult of her options. Besides of course, just saying to hell with the frozen and refrigerated products and letting them sit on the counter until he woke up on his own.

 

_Maybe I should call Papyrus? He always seems to know how to maneuver Sans when he is asleep without waking him…_

 

Toriel shook the thought from her head, she couldn’t rely on Papyrus to take care of Sans. He’d had plans with Undyne today and Toriel did not want to distract him from spending time with his ‘bestie’. _And Undyne would undoubtedly take it upon herself to- hrm, ‘harass’ the lazy out of Sans…_

Toriel did not wish to bring her ire down upon her dearest friend, not when he looked so… so- so restless. Even asleep, he still looked tired and worn out, and yet sleep was the very thing that was supposed to remedy him of this affliction.

 

And she was stalling.

 

She did not want to disturb him, but she could not let the waffles thaw.

As carefully as she could she tiptoed closer to the fridge. Then slowly she raised her paws and started to slide them underneath the sleeping monster. He didn’t stir.

It was rather strange, having her paws between the hard plastic of the fridge and the soft fabric of Sans jacket. Both were the same temperature, but Sans had far more give than the appliance.

Now was the tricky part, she wanted to make sure she lifted him up without letting him roll off of the fridge, for the falling motion would surely wake him. But as she started to lift him, he shifted; rolling more onto his side and back and less on his stomach. This pulled his dangling arm out of the way and thus giving her access the to freezer once more.

 

Toriel hesitated.

Should she leave him? She could get the fridge open now without needing to move him… but the door movements might still wake him…

 

_No, I am already committed. Pulling my hands free would also run the risk of waking him I might as well move him somewhere less fraught with wakefulness…_

 

Toriel let her sigh escape as a puff of warm air out of her long snout. Sans was quite literally a handful, even when asleep. She smiled a little and continued her attempt to lift him off of the refrigerator.

And was startled by the sudden and immediate ease by which she was able to lift him.

He was light, exceptionally so; it was as if she wasn’t holding anyone at all. And yet he had a shape that said otherwise.

She pulled him closer to herself and could feel his- weight, was not quite the right word but she could not think of another more suited to describe it. He had the build or shape of a monster who was much heavier but he seemed to carry none of the heft himself. But he did- or had.

She had picked him up on several occasions and he had had weight then. In fact he’d been as heavy as she had expected of a monster who’s clothes sat the way his did. She could even feel his mass whenever she hugged him, but now…

 

_It is as if someone has flipped a switch and removed his weight…_

 

_Made him nearly weightless…_

 

Gravity.

Sans and Papyrus could both manipulate gravity.

 

_Did they change their own gravity? Increase their weight to blend in more with other monsters, like breathing?_

 

_Or was it more necessary? Giving themselves more gravity to prevent themselves from being tossed about so easily…_

 

If that were true, it didn’t seem to stop anyone from picking Sans up and moving him when he was in the way. She had seen several of Sans’ closer friends, herself included, just pluck him up and place him elsewhere whenever they liked…

Toriel frowned down at the sleep skeleton in her arms and wondered if it ever bothered him, to be moved about without consent. He never baulked or protested… _But what good would that be if we can just move him anyway…_

She was going to have to ask him when he woke up. She had just copied what she had seen others do, and she supposed it was one thing when Papyrus dragged him around, but she did not know about the others. _Did he really enjoy it when Undyne hauled him around when he had been trying to nap?_

 

She turned for the hall intent on putting Sans to bed when she at last noticed what had been in his other hand, the tv remote.

The snort caught her off guard and she froze as Sans shifted... but he didn’t wake. Toriel let out a slow sigh of relief; she wanted to smack herself for that slip up, but who slept with the remote, of all things, clutched in their hand.

 

 _The same man who thought sleeping on top of a refrigerator was a good idea…_  

 

Toriel shook her head in amusement as she carried her friend down the hall towards his shared bedroom. As she walked it was difficult for her to not think of how she would often carry her child to bed in such a manner, Sans was even roughly the same height as Frisk…

 

_Although, I do not think anyone has ever confused you for a child…_

 

Broad features, sharp fangs so much like her own, tired eyes, dense bones…

No, she very much doubted that Sans was ever confused for a child. Especially, not after they heard him speak. Impolite language aside, Sans’ deep baritone and extensive vocabulary, _when he choose to use it_ , left very little room for doubt in any soul’s mind about the age of the individual in her grasp. _Maturity is an entirely different question though…_

 

_When did you stop wearing stripes, I wonder?_

 

Toriel was abruptly pulled from her thoughts as she looked into Sans and Papyrus’ room. The dichotomy between the two halves always startled her.

One half of the room was immaculate. It looked as if it had been staged by those professional realtors on the homeowner shows Sans had gotten her hooked on, if of course they were trying to create a non-gendered teenagers room. All kinds of poster had been hung on the wall over the lovely and well-maintained comforter, some of the famous pop icon Mettaton, others of cars and pirates, some were even generic landscape images, but none of the wall art overlapped. In fact, she was certain if she took the time to measure the gaps between each image they would all be identical.  

The other half, however, looked as though it had recently been ransacked by a criminal organization searching for their stolen contraband. _The worst they would find is drawers full of socks… because if there_ **_was_ ** _space in his dresser_ **_surely_ ** _his clothes would be in it and not be all over the floor._

 

Toriel shook her head at the mess and wondered how as soul like Papyrus had managed to survive for so long with a soul like Sans in the same room.

 

_Perhaps the tape line helps him separate himself from the mess?_

 

Once she looked past the mess, Toriel always noticed how few personal touches decorated Sans’ side. No posters or pictures on the walls. No knickknacks or toy- action figures on the shelves. Just what she thought might be a helmet buried underneath several towels and the trunk he kept his telescope in. The case was the only thing on Sans’ side that was free of debris, even his bed had stray articles of clothes tossed on it. She wasn’t sure if that was because of the telescope’s frequent use or if it showed how much Sans valued the device. _It might be both, I suppose…_

Despite her size, Toriel had had many years of practice when it came to stepping across ground covered in- in things one did not want to step on, and she made it to Sans’ bed without the telltale crunch of something valuable. She had begun to stoop to deposit Sans onto his bed when a vivid and wild horror ripped through her.

 

True unbridled gut-wrenching fear consumed her thoughts.

 

_Frisk._

 

Her child. They were in danger or- were hurt or- something, but she had to act. She had to help them right now. But she couldn’t move. Her muscles had locked up, but her soul continued to pound in her chest as the fear- no, as the blind panic tore at her. She was immobile and yet her child was still in harm’s way- or were they?

Her mind had just leapt to Frisk but she could not explain why, she only knew that something very bad was about to happen- or was happening? It was all so confusing, but it frightened her right down to the very core of her soul. Tears burned in the corner of her eyes as her fingers clenched so hard her knuckles hurt-

 

Sans hissed in her grasp, startling her.

And then the fear was gone, as if she’d snapped out of it. Or it, out of her.

 

She blinked at the pointless water in her eyes as she stared down at Sans. His perma-grin was pulled down into a grimace and Toriel could see the pain- the discomfort on his face even if his eyes were still closed. She could feel the quiet chattering of his bones even if she couldn’t hear it. His free hand was clenching and unclenching while the other clutched the remote in a death grip. She could see his hands starting to shake even as his head began to move in little jerky motions.

And Toriel realized the fear had not been her own. It had been his- it still was his.

 

_A bad dream- A nightmare… Only that…_

 

Her soul had felt the anguish in his unguarded magic and without the accustomed warning for the sudden magical connection, she had assumed it had been her own. She let out a very slow breath. It was rare for monsters to leave their magic so unguarded, even in their sleep, so it had never occurred to her that it might be an issue when she had decided to pick Sans up.

She shouldn’t intrude, it was incredibly rude to share magic with another soul if they did not ask for it… But if a bad dream had been causing Sans’ restless nights then shouldn’t she try to help?

She looked down at the man- at her **friend** still in her arms and watched as almost invisible wisps of magic escaped from between the threads of his shirt. Now that she was prepared for it she could easily tell that whatever had frightened him, still was… and that it was worsening. The light from his magic was glittering under his left eyelid and the chatting in his bones was growing louder.

She couldn’t **not** help him, not after everything he had done for her. She could still remember the way his magic had felt that late night last week. Cool and calm and comforting in her time of need, despite his own worries haunting him.

Toriel pulled Sans closer to herself and thought about happy things. About her loving and adorable child, about the warmth of the sun’s light on her fur, about the beauty of the Surface, about the goodness and kindness of the souls she’s been graced to know, about bad jokes and an old door, about a friend’s laugh. She filled her magic with all those emotions and let them flow out of her and back down the river of icy terror that had crashed over her only moments ago.

She kept her magic mild and her touch light as she held Sans. She hadn’t realized she’d been gently swaying until she’d stopped moving in response to her friend’s bones going quiet.

 

His face wasn’t relaxed, but the grimace was gone now. No magic seemed to be escaping him, nor was light glittering in his closed eyes. His hands had gone still and his grip had slacked on the remote. Still, Toriel did not put him down. She kept her magic warm and comforting and reassuring until she felt his body completely relax in her grasp.

Finally, she bent to place him in bed. She could not tuck him because his sheet seemed to have been lost to the mess around her, but she did pull his hoodie more comfortable around him. She also retrieved the remote.

 

_Perhaps, now sleeping will do you some good…_

 

As she crept back out of the room, she liked to think that Sans might not have looked happy, but that he certainly looked less tired.

 


End file.
